I want to express appreciation for the many NAISA members who have posted here and made comments about how the association and its leaders might respond to Arizona's new anti-immigration law (SB 1070). I hope you will continue to use this forum to pose questions, seek alternatives, and communicate to other members of our association.

At the same time, I want to let you know that some things take time to work out, and as the president of NAISA I am satisfied that the council is working in a deliberate and respectful way to address the various concerns that come before us.

In that spirit, I want to let you know that Tsianina Lomawaima, Chair of the Executive Local Host Committee for this year's meeting, has indicated to me that she wants to address NAISA members from the perspective of her committee, and that she and her colleagues need a few days to discuss some of the issues from their point of reference in Arizona and in the homelands of the Tohono O'odham Nation. That committee is a tremendously able group of Native professionals, and all of them except for Tsianina come from one of the 22 Indigenous nations that are, at least in part, inside the borders of the state of Arizona. They are listed with their affiliations on the main page of the meeting website, which you can go to by clicking on "2010 Tucson Meeting" on the upper left side of this page under Primary Links.

We owe this group, most especially Tsianina, tremendous gratitude for the difficult work that has gone into coordinating our meeting. In deference to their gathered wisdom, I would ask that you join me and the council in waiting to draw conclusions about NAISA's responses to the current situation in Arizona until our hosts have had a few days to address us.

Between now and then, let's continue talking.

Robert Warrior
NAISA President